Ok, as with all life's little mysteries, I've come here for answers!
I have been a contact lens wearer for years and have never had a problem with the whole "putting my finger in my eye" thing. However, DH is attempting to wear contacts and has a severe case of "pokephobia". Bless his heart. He has only successfully gotten one in by himself in the two days he has had them. The lenses are Toric.

My question is, has anyone ever used a contact lens inserter for soft lenses? I saw them on the internet, but had never heard of them.

For the love of all things DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT buy him the contact lens inserter that looks like a suction cup on a stick. I had one when I first started wearing contacts some 30 years ago and the thing suction cupped itself to my eyeball. The sheer grossness of pulling a suction cup off of your eyeball is mind numbing. I get the heebie jeebies just reliving it.

Ugh! That sounds pretty grody!! I think they still sell that type, but it is specifically for hard lenses from what I find. The ones for soft lenses look a little different, however, I can't find much on exactly how they work.

Thanks for your input! This is exactly what I'm looking for...first hand experience!

I have never used one personally, but I know it took me about two weeks before I could actually insert my contacts in my eyes when I started wearing them. The first day I tried I was so excited, and an hour later I finally gave up. I think he'll probably get used to it eventually, once he gets used to seeing something coming at his eye. hehe. Maybe his optometrist might have some suggestions at easing the initial introduction of the contacts?

I've worn soft contacts for 24 years (sheesh how time flies) Anyway I've never had any difficulty or used any device to get them in.

I'm not familiar with the lens type you mentioned but I'll pass along my recommendations...maybe you have tried these but you never know.

Explain to your husband that the sensation of touching ones finger to the eye is quite different than doing it with the lens over the finger. There is no irritation or icky feeling from the lens like there is with a bare finger on the eye ball. He might know this but being reminded can help.

Then I insert my lenses in a fairly unusual way, based on my observation of others ---but maybe I'm wrong about that. I've only seen a handful of people put in contacts and none have ever done it like me, but others could. The optometrist taught me this right at the beginning so I could fix my lenses no matter where I was.

First I do not use a mirror. I stand near the mirror in the BR but don't watch myself while putting in the lenses. Maybe if your husband doesn't watch himself he will be less phobic.

I only use one hand, not two. I place the lens on my index finger, carefully balanced on the center with no edges touching my finger. I use the middle finger of the same hand to pull down my lower lid. I look up with my eyes--so I don't see the lens coming. I gently put the lens against my eye, blink and usually any air or cleaning solution is pressed out from under and I go on to the next one. I use my R hand for the R eye and the L for the L eye. I pretty much do the reverse to take them out. I can take them both out at once. Just have to have the container ready first and have my R and L straight.

I find this method quick and painless, so if your husband isn't doing this describe it to him and he might do better. Good Luck.

My sister in law had the same issue when she got contacts. I put my contacts in the same way as NewAmy so I taught her that method. She figured out on her own to close her other eye so she couldn't see the finger as clearly as when it was open thereby not freaking her out.
Tell him good luck for me!! I started wearing contacts almost 17 years ago and wouldn't trade them for anything!

Thank you all so much for your input! I will pass this information along to my sweet Hubby, and maybe some of it will be helpful!

I have worn contacts for almost 30 years (<gasp> has it been that long???), and I've never been sqeamish about my eyes, so I wasn't much help with the suggestions.

I know it's probably harder for guys, too, because, I've spent years sticking a mascara brush in my eye -hee- I guess that toughens you up! I did think to tell him to keep his mouth open - doesn't that help you not blink when you put on mascara?

I don't know if this will help.. in my case I had to wait several weeks for my lenses, and since they were relatively expensive special orders, not disposable, I was worried about messing them up. (I wore rigid gas permeables for 26 years, and just switched to soft lenses.. so it was an adjustment). So I ended up with some "practice" lenses from my doctor. He just gave me two disposable lenses out of his sample stash. Not even close to the right prescription (if they were I wouldn't have needed the special order!) but the right diameter and shape. It was a big help to me to be able to practice a few times without having to worry that I was messing up my real lens.

Also, YMMV, but I never got the hang of taking the contact out by sort of scooping it up with two fingers. Then I found out you can get them out the same way you do with hard lenses--hold your eyelids open with two fingers, blink, and it pops right out. Naturally this was easier for me since I had already been doing it for so long, but it might be worth a try.

I've had rigid gas permeables for 13 years. I had really strong eye reflexes when I first started but I got used to it eventually. I don't use a mirror, I look at my finger and aim for the middle of my eye. To get them out I pull the edge of my eyelid tight to the side then blink.